from “organizer” to “arts administrator”

The Straits Times article “Wanted: More leaders in the arts industry” (2 Aug 09), prompts me to reflect on how far we have come.  In two respects;  first, how the term “arts administrator” rolls off the media tongue with such fluency; and second, that there is actually public concern about the dearth of arts administrators.

In the early 1980s, staff in the Cultural Affairs Division were designated “Organiser”. There were five organisers including Lim Mee Lian who was Organizer (Music) and Chua Ai Liang, the Organizer (Drama).

The very first Arts Administration courses in Singapore were held from 14 to 30 Aug 85.  They were conducted by Harmon Greenblatt and Irene Conley from the Department of Arts, Entertainment and Media Management, Columbia College Chicago Illinois which was reputed to have the largest arts administration programme in the United States at the time.

Two three-week courses were conducted concurrently, in the afternoons for staff from the public sector including the Ministry of Community Development, National Theatre Trust, SSO, SBC and STPB; and in the evenings for staff from the arts groups, art schools and arts entertainment agencies. Course content was wisely worked around a list of topics offered by the participants to ensure relevancy to their situations; and included topics like the formulation of arts policy, arts marketing & ticket pricing, fund-raising, programming and production.

Apart from taking comfort in the realisation that their funding problems were universal in nature and the chance to form new alliances within the local arts community, participants came away with a sense of belonging to a global community of professional arts administrators. In a press interview, Harmon and Irene offered re-assuring messages to the effect that Singapore had “a culture, that the strength of the arts lies in the vitality of its cultures” and gave the “thumbs up” to our arts administrators who had “so much talent, ability, enthusiasm and energy”  that they acknowledged that the teaching was two-ways as they were also learning from us.

We celebrated when a month or so after the courses, the media began to use the term “arts administrator” and ”arts manager” instead of “organiser”.